July 2026. Kelham. Sheffield. I know jealousy is a terrible thing, but I really am jealous of Simon’s frenetic progress towards completion of the Beer Guide. It’s not always fun, and BRAPA has the really scary stuff still to come (probably in a boat in a storm near Sark), but nothing gives you that adrenaline rush...

July 2026. Midhopestones. Sheffield. The Number 57 from the bottom of our hill (doesn’t really narrow it down) terminates at Unsliven Bridge 49 minutes later. I had no idea what Unsliven Bridge was, apart from a sense it was beyond the darkest recesses of Stocksbridge, a Sheffield suburb I’ve barely touched and for...

July 2026. Grantham. From Sheffield to Waterbeach to see Dad and back in the same day isn’t ideal. But I don’t really want to be hanging around in Cambridge when I could be back with Mrs RM, planning the next leg of our epic Cask Camino (which hit a slight big snag this afternoon). Life has been a lot easier since...

July 2026. Rotherham. Visiting Dad yesterday a long-term aquaintance said to me “You must enjoy sitting around relaxing at home“. I was speechless. I’m aware some folk do like spending time at home, but 4 years after completing the Beer Guide I’m still not one of them. More than a day in Sheffield and I need to...

July 2026. Sheffield. The only problem with keg beer is that you immediately wish you’d had cask, but I wouldn’t admit that on the cesspit that is CAMRA’s Discourse at the moment. Anyway, I found I couldn’t walk past the Gardeners Rest without seeing what Tribune newspaper just declared the Best Pub Garden In...

July 2026. Sheffield. When we moved to Sheffield during the second lockdown I thought there might be a protracted period of stabilisastion in the pub scene (ugh), but 2021-23 saw plenty of new openings to distract us from the Kelham Island usual suspects. Heist came first, 30 keg taps, a shuffle board and an unusual...

July 2026. Sheffield. It’s that time of year again, when local newspapers, even the subscription ones without clickbait, send reporters out to find your city’s top beer gardens, and invite comments from folk who like to reminisce about “The Good Old Days“. I subscribe to Sheffield’s Tribune, which has good if often...

July 2026. Manchester. I drove into Manchester on the hottest day of the year to help him clear his Piccadilly flat (mainly a guitar and early editions of Kerrang!), a month after his move to the Promised Land of Stockport. I could have parked opposite the flat at CitiPark, but saved £7 by stopping on Dale Street...

July 2026. Bradford. Back from the Ginger Goose, Mrs RM said she didn’t want anything to eat, which I took as instruction to head out immediately and come back with a healthy tea. I headed out into Little Germany, a part of Bradford with unrealised potential, expecting to find a dozen pizza/kebab places on the way....

July 2026. Bradford. Back from Bingley at half-five last Monday, Bradford looked a little too quiet. The 10 minutes walk from Forster Square Station to Holiday Inn Express is a row of “value” pubs, one of them offering sandwich, crisps and a pint for a fiver. As I walk past the Ginger Goose I hear this; Except, it’s...

July 2026. Bingley. Day 5 of the Cask Camino, and we’d postponed Bingley’s canalside highlights in favour of a bracing walk to the Druid’s Altar, with the promise of a pint on the way back to the station. Mrs RM will be looking for some middle-class pub recommendations for her own blog, and you won’t get much more...

July 2026. Saltaire to Bingley. A late (9:30) start to Day 5 of the Cask Camino on Monday morning meant we missed the best of the Holiday Inn Express (i.e. the scrambled eggs), which came as a shock after missing breakfasts in Armenia because they didn’t start till 9am. We resume at Saltaire station, the stretch to...